Reactor technology overview and global count
PWR stands for Pressurised Water Reactor. Water is kept under high pressure so it heats without boiling, then transfers that heat to a separate steam circuit that drives the turbine. Keeping the reactor water and the turbine water apart is the defining feature. It is the most widely deployed design worldwide, and the VVER family used across Russia and Eastern Europe is a PWR variant. In the WhereNuc dataset there are 453 recorded PWR units across 34 countries, of which 305 are operational, 4 in suspended operation and 53 under construction. Their combined net operating capacity is about 286,371 MW. The earliest recorded PWR unit entered commercial operation in 1958, the most recent in 2023.
| Country | Units | Share |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 86 | 19% |
| China | 78 | 17% |
| France | 61 | 13% |
| Russia | 34 | 8% |
| South Korea | 26 | 6% |
| Japan | 24 | 5% |
| Germany | 20 | 4% |
| Ukraine | 17 | 4% |
| India | 10 | 2% |
| Türkiye | 8 | 2% |
| Bulgaria | 8 | 2% |
| Slovakia | 8 | 2% |
| Belgium | 8 | 2% |
| Spain | 7 | 2% |
| Pakistan | 6 | 1% |
| Czechia | 6 | 1% |
| United Kingdom | 5 | 1% |
| United Arab Emirates | 4 | 1% |
| Hungary | 4 | 1% |
| Brazil | 3 | 1% |
| Armenia | 3 | 1% |
| Switzerland | 3 | 1% |
| Iran | 3 | 1% |
| Egypt | 3 | 1% |
| Finland | 3 | 1% |
| Sweden | 3 | 1% |
| Belarus | 2 | 0% |
| South Africa | 2 | 0% |
| Taiwan | 2 | 0% |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 0% |
| Netherlands | 1 | 0% |
| Argentina | 1 | 0% |
| Italy | 1 | 0% |
| Slovenia | 1 | 0% |
| Model | Units |
|---|---|
| VVER V-320 | 25 |
| VVER V-213 | 21 |
| P4 REP 1300 | 20 |
| CP1 | 20 |
| CPR-1000 | 20 |
| WH 4LP (DRYAMB) | 19 |
| PWR | 14 |
| WH 3LP | 12 |
| VVER V-230 | 12 |
| OPR-1000 | 12 |
| APR-1400 | 10 |
| CP2 | 10 |
| AP-1000 | 10 |
| HPR1000 | 9 |
| M (3-loop) | 9 |
| CE 2LP (DRYAMB) | 8 |
| WH 4LP (ICECND) | 8 |
| WH 2LP | 7 |